43-year old Ichiro Suzuki is about to enter his 17th MLB season and he doesn't have any plans to hang up his cleats anytime soon.
According to the New York Daily News' Nicholas Parco, the Miami Marlins' outfielder plans on playing until he's 50 years old.
“Nobody knows what the future holds,” he said. “But the way I feel, how I’m thinking, I feel like nothing can stop me from doing it.”
But what about after that? What does Ichiro have planned once he retires?
“I think I’ll just die."
“For me, if I stay on the couch all day -- or even one day -- I’ll be more tired doing that than going out and giving my body a workout,” Ichiro said.
The 10x MLB All-Star, who has already eclipsed the 3,000 hit total in his career as well as two batting titles, isn't getting as much playing time now as he did during his prime but he still hasn't lost his hunger to workout and compete at the highest level.
“Physically, unless you have some kind of injury, you don’t really need a break,” Suzuki said. “I think mentally you sometimes need a break. But for me, my body is built so that if I don’t work out, that’s when I put more stress on my body and get more tired."
Ichiro and the Marlins will kick off the MLB season on Opening Day, Monday, April 3rd in Washington.